Glass back of iPhone 4 review unit collects 'incredibly minor' scratches
A review unit sent out by Apple has managed to collect "incredibly minor" scratches on its back made of hardened glass after just a few days of heavy use.
Engadget was given a review unit of the iPhone 4 prior to this week's public release. In its hands-on time with the device, the glass back panel managed to accumulate scratches, though the website dubbed them minor.
"It's what we'd call 'incredibly minor,' not visible at all dead on, but in bright light at an angle... well see for yourself (in) the photos," it said.
When Apple introduced the iPhone 4 earlier this month, the Cupertino, Calif., company touted that both the device's front and back panels are made of aluminosilicate glass, chemically strengthened to be 30 times harder than plastic, and "more scratch resistant and more durable than ever." The front and back glass are also said to include an oil-resistant coating that helps to keep it clean.
The first reviews of the handset noted its durability, as Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal said "I dropped it several times from a few feet onto a hard surface with no problem, and it acquired no scratches in all my testing, even though I didn't use a case or coddle it."
Ed Baig of USA Today also wrote that an Apple executive dropped the phone in front of him, for him to see. "The phone was undamaged," he said.
In its teardown of the iPhone 4, solutions provider iFixit found that the front glass on Apple's latest handset is made of "Gorilla Glass." It made no mention of the back panel.
"The front glass panel of the iPhone is constructed of Corning Gorilla Glass, a chemically strengthened alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass that is reported to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic," the company said in its teardown. "Gorilla Glass holds many advantages as the iPhone 4's front panel, including its high resistance to wear and increased strength from an ion-exchange chemical strengthening process."
Apple will sell its first-ever set of iPhone protectors alongside the iPhone 4, dubbed Bumpers. They will be available in 6 colors for $29.99 apiece, but the accessories don't obscure the front or back of the handset, instead wrapping the handset's edges in a shock-absorbing, rubberized material.
Earlier this month, one website came into possession of an iPhone 4 with a cracked glass front panel, challenging Apple's own claims of the durability of the new hardware.
Engadget was given a review unit of the iPhone 4 prior to this week's public release. In its hands-on time with the device, the glass back panel managed to accumulate scratches, though the website dubbed them minor.
"It's what we'd call 'incredibly minor,' not visible at all dead on, but in bright light at an angle... well see for yourself (in) the photos," it said.
When Apple introduced the iPhone 4 earlier this month, the Cupertino, Calif., company touted that both the device's front and back panels are made of aluminosilicate glass, chemically strengthened to be 30 times harder than plastic, and "more scratch resistant and more durable than ever." The front and back glass are also said to include an oil-resistant coating that helps to keep it clean.
The first reviews of the handset noted its durability, as Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal said "I dropped it several times from a few feet onto a hard surface with no problem, and it acquired no scratches in all my testing, even though I didn't use a case or coddle it."
Ed Baig of USA Today also wrote that an Apple executive dropped the phone in front of him, for him to see. "The phone was undamaged," he said.
In its teardown of the iPhone 4, solutions provider iFixit found that the front glass on Apple's latest handset is made of "Gorilla Glass." It made no mention of the back panel.
"The front glass panel of the iPhone is constructed of Corning Gorilla Glass, a chemically strengthened alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass that is reported to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic," the company said in its teardown. "Gorilla Glass holds many advantages as the iPhone 4's front panel, including its high resistance to wear and increased strength from an ion-exchange chemical strengthening process."
Apple will sell its first-ever set of iPhone protectors alongside the iPhone 4, dubbed Bumpers. They will be available in 6 colors for $29.99 apiece, but the accessories don't obscure the front or back of the handset, instead wrapping the handset's edges in a shock-absorbing, rubberized material.
Earlier this month, one website came into possession of an iPhone 4 with a cracked glass front panel, challenging Apple's own claims of the durability of the new hardware.
Comments
Oh boy, the trolls are gonna jump on this. Meanwhile the new Droid doesn't have a front facing camera and the fanboys are churning out excuses why it isn't needed.
the "average consumer" has no need for a front facing camera if they need a PhD in Programming to figure out how to use it.
Oh boy, the trolls are gonna jump on this. Meanwhile the new Droid doesn't have a front facing camera and the fanboys are churning out excuses why it isn't needed.
oh this is like 2009 again, and 2008, and 2007....
http://www.amazon.com/Simoniz-Clear-.../dp/B001P5TDM0
Oh boy, the trolls are gonna jump on this. Meanwhile the new Droid doesn't have a front facing camera and the fanboys are churning out excuses why it isn't needed.
I don't think it's troll behavior per se, but I thought that the whole point of having the Apple-sanctioned "bumpers" that just cover the rim of the device was because the glass on the front and back is much stronger than plastic and doesn't scratch?
Hole crapola! Glass scratches? ...
The issue at hand is that apple wont sell the plastic covers anymore that protect the glass from scratches which is STUPID. I'll have mine wrapped in SOMEthing.
I don't think it's troll behavior per se, but I thought that the whole point of having the Apple-sanctioned "bumpers" that just cover the rim of the device was because the glass on the front and back is much stronger than plastic and doesn't scratch?
Note that "doesn't scratch" was never stated by Apple.
yup, dropped it a couple times on hard tile floors, and it's not scratched yet.
You wouldn't mind making a video by chance?
I don't think it's troll behavior per se, but I thought that the whole point of having the Apple-sanctioned "bumpers" that just cover the rim of the device was because the glass on the front and back is much stronger than plastic and doesn't scratch?
I think the bumper is to protect the edge of the glass from impact since unlike previous models the glass sits on top of the metal frame instead of inside of it. With the edge of the glass exposed like this there may be an increased risk of cracking if it sustains an impact directly on the corner or the edge.
Read their f'in review. they admit to throwing it across the room and even hitting off of the wall. Then it gets minor scratches?????
Quot from Engadget review:
It wouldn't be a new iPhone without some accessories, but Apple has kept it tidy. The company is offering a new dock, of course, for twenty-nine of your US dollars (that's $29), and a selection of colorful "bumpers" that protect the phone for the same price. We've got a few bumpers in-house, and while we're not really big fans of the way they look or feel, they do seem to protect the phone pretty well. On that note, we've actually seen the iPhone 4 tossed with and without a bumper across a room (one hit a wall) with no issue, and we dropped ours pretty hard from about two feet up onto tile with nary a scratch.
God knows how else they mistreated it. Just goes to show that if you don't pay for/earn something it has no worth to you and you don't look after it. Probably been mistreated more in 5 days than any user would in a lifetime.
You wouldn't mind making a video by chance?
of me dropping it?
People are always amazed that my DVDs don't have any scratches on them. I tell them, simple, hold the discs by the edges like they are meant to be held and they don't scratch.
of me dropping it?
Are you drunk or just clumsy? You've only had it for a few hours and already dropped it on the hard floor a couple of times?